For tens of thousands of years, some experts say up to thirty-three thousand years, perhaps even more, man and dog have been together. Co-existing in a mutually beneficial alliance during good times and bad. That alliance eventually became a friendship. As the world evolved and the need of working dogs like shepherds and hunting dogs declined the dog became a perfect companion to man. He guards man's family and property and gives man entertainment and company. The time that man and dog did not know one another is lost to them both. Their destinies are entwined on an evolutionary, genetic level. One can only wonder man's fate had the ancient ancestor of today's dog not been there to help him. To guard his camp, to ward off predators, and perhaps most importantly, to help him hunt. They've endured together.

In Western societies they are part of our families. We spend millions each year healing them when they are sick and more millions pampering them with all manner of frivolities. Man and dog, as natural as anything in our societies. If man were ever judged as a whole by a higher being, his faithful accomplice would surely be there with him. Partners in everything. It's no stretch of the imagination to understand why the dog is called 'Man's best friend.' They've a pact of steel.

But something went wrong. Man has forgotten what the dog has given him. He has lost his respect for many things, the dog being one of them. We destroy millions of unwanted pets yearly in the United States alone (one healthy, adoptable cat or dog is euthanized every eleven seconds in American shelters! humanesociety.org).

I can only wonder: If man's best friend knew the horrors we were perpetrating against him, would he end our alliance, would he forgive us?

Sad as it is... I'm sure he would.

[Above: This horrifying picture shows a dog still alive after being brutalized by its captors, while all around him/her are murdered animals bludgeoned and choked to death.]

There are so many things wrong with the world and humanity today that it is almost hard to be shocked anymore. We are so used to the corruption and evils of this world that it is easy to brush it all off. But recently I came across something so disturbing that even the most desensitized person should be horrified about.

Now I have always heard that there are countries that eat dog and cat meat, mostly Asian countries, but I had no idea about the levels of cruelty that these animals suffer. Nor did I realize how wide spread it is. The only knowledge I had of it was the casual joke that the Chinese food you are eating is probably cat meat. Well the reality of this practice of eating these domesticated animals is totally insane, disgusting and cruel.

Dog and cat eating is common in China, South Korea, Vietnam, Indonesia, the Philippines, and other Asian countries. This is a huge money-making industry in these countries. In South Korea alone it generates two billion dollars a year!

[Above: To a terrible place...]

According to WSPA (World Society for the Protection of Animals) an estimated 25 million dogs are murdered for humans to eat each year. China leads this race of evil with the most dogs tortured and eaten every year, about 10 million! South Koreans eat over 2.5 million dogs in a year (saynotodogmeat.net). Wholly disgusting.
Most of you might picture these 'farming' operations similar to what we have in Western countries. Like the cattle and pork industry that kills with a quick bolt to the head. Believe me I have nothing good to say about these operations, but in comparison to what happens to dogs and cats in Asia it is worlds apart. First off dogs and cats have been specifically bred to be companion animals. Man and dog have evolved together for thousands of years. They have elevated social needs and emotions designed specifically to bond with humans, which makes it even more cruel.

The conditions which these poor creatures are kept in is horrific. The cages are unbearably cramped, often they are
so tightly compacted in a cage they are literally laying on top one another. Truly something out of a nightmare. They are packed onto trucks to be taken to the markets or dog-eating festivals. The crates they are stacked in are thrown off the trucks, often breaking their bones. There is no food or water in the filthy crates. The flesh
dealers at the markets dislocate or break their front legs and force the legs behind their backs and tie them there. The pain must be excruciating. They also force tin cans on their muzzles. The pictures speak a thousand tortured words. To any civilized human being it is excruciating to even look at them. It's hard for me personally to even look at them. I want to jump through my computer screen and save them all...

[Above: No escape...]

Here is perhaps the worst part. For some absurd and illogical reason, the horrible humans who control the fate of these animals believe that the more they are tortured the better the meat tastes. These poor creatures release adrenalin from being terrorized by these heartless people with no souls and they actually think that is what makes it taste good. In China and South Korea they have the irrational and completely unscientific belief that the 'tough' meat from tortured dogs increases their sexual potency. And just as imbecilic is their belief that cat meat soup has health benefits and wards off bad luck.

The methods of torture, for supposed enhanced taste, include being bludgeoned to death, skinned alive, boiled alive, burned alive, stabbed to death, electrocuted to the mouth and a list of others. Some are hung upside-down and beaten and then left to slowly bleed to death. The limits of this despicable cruelty are only man's twisted imagination. Seeing the pictures is completely agonizing to anyone with a soul. How could anyone do this to any living thing? It makes me truly disgusted and angry! I do not want to be a part of humanity when I see how these monsters treat these innocent animals. These poor creatures are often purposely killed in front of the other dogs and cats in order to increase the fear and terror of the ones watching. They are pulled from their cramped cages with iron tongs around their necks, sometimes they even have collars and tags around their necks... They actually steal people's pets to eat! I've seen videos where the murderer reaches in to grab one of these domesticated dogs and it wags its tail and looks happy at the touch of a human, soon replaced by terror and pain.

The Yulin Dog Eating Festival is held every year in the Guangxi province of China. This sickening festival claims the lives of an incredible 150,000 dogs each year! Many of these dogs are among the aforementioned pets that are stolen from their owners. These poor dogs must be especially confused and scared. Communist China has no laws protecting animals from cruelty. This hideous festival continues undisturbed year after year marring the soul of humanity and dragging us further into the pits of hell.

[Above: A monster burns a dog to death with a blowtorch, while others, in a cage nearby wait their turn...]

South Korea has their own monstrous festival called 'Bokdays' which lasts for 60 days from July through August. It seems impossible, but they murder and eat an incredible 15,000 dogs and several thousand cats EACH DAY! That's 900,000 lives brutally murdered! They are often slaughtered right in front of the diners, including children. How they can still have an appetite is beyond my understanding. South Koreans obviously realize that this disgusting behavior is not acceptable to many people around the world because tourists and non-Koreans are not allowed in this market. It's obvious that they fear they would lose out on all the money tourism brings in if people found out the manner in which they treat animals. There is a video on youtube where a Korean-American woman goes into the market and films some of these people viciously torturing and murdering dogs. The woman found it horrifying and began to cry. It was really sad. Some of the killers laughed as they inflicted unbearable pain on 'man's best friend.'

[Above: Unbelievable cruelty...]

There is a cancer eating away at man's soul.
I could truly go on and on about this disturbing and sickening topic. But I won't. Others have spent much of their lives and energies documenting and trying to fight this genocide. If you are interested in learning more, here are some websites to check out. Or, do what most people are masters at--DO NOTHING. But for those of you with a soul, here are a few URLS, but there are many more. Find them. Fight this madness any way you can!